Making Up for Past Mistakes
by Nightcrawlerlover
Summary: Oneshot. Post-Time Stands Still, but pre-Back in Black. Emma apologizes to Rick about rejecting him in part 1 of Time Stands Still. References to part 2 of Mother and Child Reunion from season 1.


**Here's a new Degrassi oneshot I cooked up while listening to a few remixes of "Blood On the Dance Floor" by Michael Jackson (may he rest in peace). **

**Pairing: Rick/Emma. **

**Spoilers: Takes place after part 2 of Time Stands Still, but before Back in Black. **

**Genre(s): Fantasy/Spiritual. **

**Disclaimer: The geniuses at The N and CTV own Degrassi. The lyrics to Blood On the Dance Floor by Michael Jackson belong with their respective owners. **

**Making Up for Past Mistakes**

_She got your number  
She know your game  
Look what you're under  
It's so insane_

_Since you seduced her  
How does it feel  
To know that woman  
Is out to kill_

_Every night stance is like takin' a chance  
It's not about love and romance  
__And now you're gonna get it_

_Every hot man is out takin' a chance  
It's not about love and romance  
And now you do regret it_

_To escape the world I've got to enjoy that simple dance  
And it seemed that everything was on my side  
(Blood on my side)_

_She seemed sincere like it was love and true romance  
And now she's out to get me  
And I just can't take it  
Just can't break it_

_Susie got your number  
And Susie ain't your friend  
Look who took you under  
With seven inches in_

_Blood is on the dance floor  
Blood is on the knife  
Susie got your number  
And Susie says it's right_

******Michael Jackson, **Blood On the Dance Floor****

It was nighttime in Toronto, Canada. Emma Nelson, sixteen, was asleep in her bed. For her, it was hard to believe that just that day she had participated in "Whack Your Brain", a TV game show, and Rick Murray had won that for Degrassi. But then she had seen yellow paint and white feathers come down on Rick's head. She had seen the pained expression on his face. Then when he had gone out into the hallway, she had come after him...

**Flashback**

"_Rick!_"_ Emma called as she caught up to him. _"_Rick, what happened…it only makes the people that did it look totally juvenile._"

_Rick wasn't convinced. _"_They ruined it, Emma. They're life ruiners. Everyone laughing._"

"_But nobody's ever gonna forget who won – who is the smartest guy in the whole school, in the whole city,_"_ Emma replied. _

_She looked so convincing that Rick felt a little better. **At least someone likes me**_,_ he thought. _

_He then took Emma in his arms and began kissing her._

"_Rick! What are you doing? Let go!"_

_She finally managed to pull out of his grip. _

_Rick looked shaken up. _"_I thought you loved me._""

**End of Flashback**

Emma remembered the – now to her – hurtful words she had spoken in reply.

"_I felt sorry for you! Get a clue!"_

Even now she wished she had said something else – maybe even returned his kiss. _And I should've. _

She then remembered the most shocking moment of her life – seeing Rick in the hallway, holding a gun by his side.

Soon a dream came to her...

**Start of dream**

_Emma was running as fast as she could, her breathing shallow and uneven. She had to run, had to get away, had to escape. She was running through the never ending hallway of Degrassi Community School, passing door after door, picture after picture, and every picture held **his** image._

"_You're running away, but the game has just begun."_

_His voice echoed through out her mind. A game? Was this all just a game to him? Was her heart and soul some sort of prize in this twisted little game known as love? She had to get away, had to run away._

"_You can run, but you can't hide."_

_Emma continued to run, trying to ignore that voice. His consistent voice was a deep rich seductive voice, but she could hear that it was laced with anger. He was angry with her for trying to run away from him. He wanted her to stop running, to just accept her fate, to admit she had feelings for him. He continued to chant in the same taunting seductive voice for her to come back._

"_You belong to me…you belong _with_ me, Emma. Why run? You know it's not going to last forever."_

_Emma continued to run until she hit a dead end. Luckily, there was a doorway; something inside her screamed for her not to take the door, that it would only lead to danger. But something else, something stronger than whatever was telling her not to open the door, made her open it anyway. _

_She swung it open, and then stepped backwards at who she saw standing in the doorway looking the very image of pure arrogance – Rick Murray. He looked very handsome indeed, __with his sleeked back brown hair, his dark brown eyes, and a smirk on his face. He was wearing the same clothes he wore __when he had been shot with his own gun. However, as handsome as he was, it didn't change the fact that it looked like his features were carved from the coldest ice. As she scrambled to her feet,_ _ready to turn away and run back in the other direction, he grabbed her arm and yanked her inside the room._

"_Finally, I found you,_"_ he whispered softly, gripping her tighter as she struggled to get away from him. _"_Stop it, Emma. Stop trying to run away from me. You KNOW it will never work. I'll never stop looking for you…so why not just give up and come back? As I've always said, you belong to me, and you belong WITH me. And maybe if you come back now, I'll finish the job I started before and make you into my perfect girlfriend…_"_ he said, lightly kissing her cheek, his hands roaming down to her shirt, toying with it, sliding his hands up it, making her shudder. Maybe he was right…maybe it would be best to…_

**"**_**NO! You've worked too hard to run away just to go back! Don't let him control you!"**_

_Emma pushed away from him, spinning around and reaching for the door. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, gripping her body tighter this time, so tight that it almost hurt her. She whimpered in pain but he completely ignored it._

"_Let me go, Rick! Please just let me go!_"_ she said, trying to struggle, but cried out softly as his grip tightened. She had forgotten just how STRONG he was._

"_No. Never. I just gave you the chance to come back willingly, Emma. I gave you the chance to save your foolish friends…but now they'll have to pay for taking you away from me. And as for you, my darling…well, you…are going to wish that you had never left my side._"

_His calm demeanor slowly began to crack, revealing how angry he truly was. Emma continued trying to fight as hard as she could, her mind telling her one thing to do, and that was to run. _

"_I thought I told you...to stop trying to run?" With that he slammed her against the wall, his eyes burning with a demon's insanity._

"_Rick__! Please, just let me go!_"_ she shouted. He laughed softly into her ear, causing her to freeze. It was a cold laugh, a laugh that showed how deeply angered he was._

"_No, Emma. You didn't return my feelings for you that day in the hallway when I kissed you, and now...your friends are going to pay the price..._"_ he whispered. Images of her friends all suffering flashed through Emma's mind, and she started to sob. _

"_Now now, no more tears, Emma…well…at least not YET anyway._"

**End of dream**

Wide brown eyes opened as Emma bolted up in bed, her blond hair and pale skin all sweaty.

Finally, she whispered to herself in the dark,

"I'm sorry, Rick. I'm so sorry for being against you when you first came back to Degrassi, as well as not accepting your kiss after I comforted you the way I did in the hallway after you had gotten the yellow paint and white feathers dumped all over you.

"Even now, I wish I had taken the time to get to know you, and maybe even be more than your friend. I also wish I had told you about the time I was twelve, and I had gone to this hotel so I could meet this guy named Jordan. But little did I know that he wasn't really a boy my age. He was actually a 40-year-old man who was a pedophile and a repeat offender, and that he had pretended to be my friend so he could lure me into a trap, and then film his raping me in the hotel room. Luckily, my mother and her friend Snake came to my rescue just in time. If it hadn't been for my friends J.T and Toby, I wouldn't be here right now."

She sighed. "Well, Rick, I hope you're in a better place now. And I will have to live with this every day for the rest of my life. For it is I who now bear all the suffering."

Then Emma went back to sleep.

However, little did she know that she had been heard.

Rick, now a ghost, had been watching Emma, while listening and smiling tearfully.

"I forgive you, Emma," he said. "I am in a better place – one where I'm not being picked on, instead being accepted for all that I am. And the best part is, I will always be watching over you, no matter what happens.

"Sweet dreams, Emma."

With that, he blew her a kiss, and, now invisible, then floated over to where he could look down on Emma.

"I love you."

**Well, I hope you liked reading it as much as I loved writing it. It was pretty tough, but I stuck it out. R&R, please!**

**~Nightcrawlerlover**


End file.
